Fresh news for Showtime's Polyamory: Married & Dating, Season 2

When Showtime's docu-drama Polyamory: Married & Dating made its debut a year ago, it became a milestone in portraying genuine poly family relationships on mainstream TV. A rerun of Season 1 is now ending; the final episode, "We Are One," airs this Thursday August 8 at 11 p.m. ET/PT.

Season 2 will premier at the same time the following Thursday, August 15th. The episodes are again a half hour long, and they will run for seven weeks.

From left: Megan, Chris, and Leigh Ann

The first episode, "A New Chapter," will introduce a new family onto the show: Chris, his wife Leigh Ann, and their girlfriend Megan. They live in Hollywood, California. Chris is a mixed martial arts fighter and trainer who owns and operates a gym in Hollywood. He's married to Leigh Ann, who owns and runs a pole dancing school. She and Chris have been partnered for nine years and married for four. They always had an open relationship. And then three years ago they both fell in love with Megan, and found themselves together in a poly triad. Megan was younger, 21 at the time, and this was her first serious relationship. They've been together ever since.

This afternoon, director/producer Natalia Garcia told me some of her perspective on the new family:

My goal this season was to show a family that found themselves in a polyamorous relationship without realizing it. The Hollywood family is a cautionary tale, of what happens when you enter polyamory without crucial conversations about boundaries, wants, needs and fears. [During and after Season 1] I got many emails from families who were new, struggling with poly, and asking me to show families who were also new — who didn't really know how to navigate their multi-person relationship. I felt it was important to show a family that wasn't seasoned in polyamory, and the issues and dangers that surface when you don't speak your truths.

The other family is, by contrast, very seasoned in polyamory. We pick up the evolving story of last season's San Diego pod including Kamala Devi, Michael, Jennifer, and Tahl, who have had a number of new developments since we last saw them.

Tahl, Jen, Michael, and Kamala

When I asked Kamala Devi what she feels about this year's series compared to last, she said,

The biggest difference is that I feel our audience is ready to go deeper now. When Natalia first began working on the show, it seemed nobody in the mainstream even knew what the word polyamory meant. Many people were afraid to come out on camera. The docu-series was designed to introduce people to a whole new lifestyle and open their minds to see that monogamy is not the only option.

Though controversial, the first season got great ratings, media attention, and paved the way for many people to come out of the Poly Closet. Now that Season 1 broke the sound barrier, it makes it easier for people to be more vulnerable on Season 2.

I'll be watching.

Here's the upcoming schedule. Note that each episode will air several additional times on subsequent nights (at left there, click On TV > All Airings).

For more news see Showtime’s site for the series, which has some stills from the first new episode.

To keep up with personal doings of the San Diego family, see their Facebook Fanpage.

Here's where to find video trailers for Season 2 once they go up. None yet.

Here are all the trailers for Season 1. If you don't get Showtime, they give a good idea of what the series was about. Showtime subscribers can currently watch all past episodes in full online anytime.

Here's my own previous stuff about Season 1, with plots, spoilers, commentary, and notices in other media.

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